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production values!?!?
just a survey if you will… please name some of the ways you would add “production value” to a video project that is half done and lands in your lap… without warning and accompanied by a client who is angry at the last video crew
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15 Replies
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Is there still shooting to be done? Or is it a “make the best out of the footage you are given” situation?
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Clarify why the client is mad and check that you agree the crew was in the wrong.
Refocus the video on the core target audience and the objective.
Replan the video as from now/where you are, with a sketch / treatment of what you’d like to do and why, and associated costs.
Discuss and negotiate with client.
This is a clean break / new proposal starting from here approach, seeking to take charge of the project as a producer, and not find yourself reacting as an editor or an add-on to a client who may not have a clear plan for the video and has already been in difficulties with one (probably pro) production outfit….
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The question is really too nebulous to answer effectively. Can you elaborate at all?
“Oh, you wanted to RECORD that?”
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[Jason Jenkins] “Or is it a “make the best out of the footage you are given” situation?”
this is pretty much it… i think the guy wanted ILM… but on a youtube budget… the footage rates… well lit sound is solid… basically corporate interviews, charts, stills, etc. some motion stuff… frankly for the budget it currently stands up… when i asked if he was looking for heavy effect, sound fxs ore motion grfxs he was kind of iffy… pressed harder and he admitted he thought he would get something more exciting, more “production value”…
so in a way there could be more shooting but i only see adding “b” roll of facilities or folks working, perhaps a show host to help ties section together and add some graphic transitions for more flashiness
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you are absolutely right here, but i sensed and ultimately was told time and budget is very prohibitive and it is… i now believe it is a add more spices to the current recipe issue… you follow?
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So if I hear this right, the pictures are fine, the sound is okay yet the video somehow stinks. Sounds like a problem I talked about here earlier in the week. The real problem is quite possibly not technical, but structural and narrative. No amount of tumbling DVE cubics or greenscreen wizardry is going to fix that. If their idea of a program is ‘radio with pictures’ they should not be surprised that the video is less effective than desired or expected. It very likely wound up as what someone once described to me this way:
“This is the video nobody watches, by people we never listen to and don’t know, of the manual nobody reads, for the product nobody is buying”.Unfortunately the rest of us and our industry as a whole then often unfairly get tarred as ineffectual from that one poor example.
I’m guessing this thing was not scripted by a pro, but by someone in the office without scripting experience, who got saddled with it, then that script was given to the techs to execute, and they made it to order.
But like computers, GI=GO. People will spend all kinds of money on expensive HD cameras and cool effects and travel to great locations and even hire expensive actors but rarely, rarely, do they spend significant money on the first, most important step of the videomaking process: a good, well-thought-out script that delivers.
Some projects you just can’t repair except in a superficial way. Bad narrative structure and a lack of a narrative point to make? Well, FCP doesn’t have a button to fix that.
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Amen to that! Work out a great message, credible and interesting, package it up in a fresh and appealing way, and you have a chance to make watchable video. If you take the customer’s own script and try to “visualise” it, it’s often downhill all the way …. except for the rare occasions when the customer has professional scriptwriting expertise to hand.
Here, I’d guess a shorter piece faster pace of cutting, with a stronger music track and some Trapcode effects might get the client back onside …
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If you can get this client to legitimately answer a couple of questions, you’ll be back on track.
1. WHAT does the client want the viewer to do at the end of the video? Buy something? Invest in something? Vote for someone?
2. WHY would the viewer buy, invest, vote as the video suggests? This often goes beyond the unique features and benefits of the “product” but includes an emotionally compelling reason for them to act. And when I say emotional, that doesn’t just mean tears, it could mean passion, it could mean fear. Find the drama/conflict in it to create a compelling reason for people to act and your client will be thrilled. I think the client is saying “production value” because he wants the piece to make him “feel” a certain way, not “look” a certain way.
I don’t know your skill set, but if writing is in there, you’ll be fine. If it’s not, consider hiring someone. I don’t know how much material you’re dealing with interview wise, but I’d probably budget in the $1,500 to $1,800 range to get a writer, it just depends on the amount of material and where you’re starting. It would also be necessary to get the interviews transcribed with timecode notes, which runs around $125-150 per hour of interview.
If you’re looking for a writer shoot me an email and I’d be happy show you some samples. If I’m out of line soliciting a gig here, I apologize in advance.
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Red Balloon
films and other visual enticements
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Some easy way to add production values..
Graphics and music are probably the most common way to add production value. it can also be the quickest way to make a video look cheesy.
Informational graphics like animated maps can distract from a poorly shot talking head and add to viewer comprehension.
Tastefully done lower thirds can help
Animated transitions text treatments and backgrounds can make dry material more interesting.
Is there a voice over? Try using two voice over talents. One male and one female to add interest.
Different edit techniques are certainly over used but in the corporate world, they can still provide “wow”.. Time re-mapping, occasional flash transitions with a sfx,
Change the music often, depending on the production at least once a minute.
watch other peoples corporate videos!
Dont over do it!
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The piece is an internal video for a corporate “show” during a convention somewhere in texas… man getting that info was like getting my kids to pick up the f’in legos… sheeeze…
so really a PR rah rah type gig… me thinks he wants some more flashiness to the charts and graphs… thumpin’ beats for the live event sound and projection system he is apparently dropping a wad on (that’s where the budget went Dr. Watson… indeed Holmes)
thanks everyone for chiming in… lots of food for thought… for the future as well…
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